Breaking the Meta
by TheRealShou
Summary: When a competitive YuGiOh player is suddenly placed in the GX anime, there's only one thing he can do: Abuse his knowledge to gain fame and prestige for playing a children's card game. However, the world doesn't always go the way you want it to. SI.
1. In a new world with my YuGiOh cards

**This fic is heavily inspired by Yung Warrior's story "State of the Meta". Thank you for introducing me to this new form of YuGiOh fanfiction.**

 **Inb4 you guys think this is an update. Don't worry, update is coming soon, school is taking my time rn.**

* * *

I slowly rose out of bed, and stared at my pillows, there were four, which was weird, since I normally slept with two.

I shook my head over and over, trying to get my bearings... When I woke up, I was surrounded by a myriad of colors and posters, each of them containing a famous Yu-Gi-Oh! Character posing with their ace monster, Yugi with his **Dark Magician** , Kaiba and his **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** , and… That was it. I mean, sure Yugi and Kaiba were the most popular and iconic characters, but you would think that there would at least be Jaden with **Elemental HERO Neos** or Yusei with his **Stardust Dragon**.

Food first, thinking later. I shakily ambled over from my bed to the nearest drawer. I pulled one open, and my eyes ran over the layers of shirts, trying to find something that I could we- _I don't own any of these_.

Holy shit, was I abducted? I tiptoed around the room, trying to make as little noise as possible. There had to be some way to get out, some way to escape the horror that was going to unfold. My hand slammed against the door, which easily gave way. Turned out I wasn't kidnapped. That's… Pretty awkward.

My shoulders dropped a bit. Maybe it was from relief; maybe it was from early-morning tired syndrome. Either way, the stupidity I felt carried with me as I walked from not-my room to not-my bathroom, eager to wash my face and start the day. I rubbed my chin, expecting to feel some stubble that I would have to spend way too long to shave off which was a pain in the ass and- Fucking hell, is this always going to happen? There's nothing there! Next you're gonna tell me that I'm not even in my own body!

* * *

"Well shit, I'm not in my own body"

I stared at myself in the mirror. Sure I was still Asian, but I was… different. Instead of being the solid 6 feet that I knew and loved, I was at an average 5'10. My face had more angles compared to the more round shape that I was accustomed to, and my features looked… sharper? Thankfully, I didn't have facial hair anymore.

It was weird. I slapped my hands to my mouth, trying to repress a scream and avoid a confrontation from my not-parents. (I looked like I was a high schooler; there was no way in hell that I owned my own house.) I gave a small shout though.

"David!" A man's voice burst through my ears, and the sound of rapid footsteps soon accompanied them, and then a pause. "What the hell happened? Did you fall over?"

I shakily got back on my feet and looked at the man who was staring at me, he looked like… an older me. His hair was grayer, and his face had more wrinkles. He was probably "my" dad.

"Uh… Yeah," I said, "I thought I saw a cockroach or something like that."

"You're scared of bugs? Jesus Christ son, you have a Kaiba Corporation tournament coming today and the first thing you can think of is a cockroach?" Not-dad looked disappointedly at me. "Get dressed, we're driving out in two hours."

Alright, sheesh. "Alright dad, I'll be out in a second. Did you say Kaiba Corporation?" As in _Yu-Gi-Oh_ Kaiba Corporation?

"Yes, son, Kaiba Corporation Cup USA. You know, the tournament I talked to you about for the past month? The tournament that you _didn't_ _prepare for?_ " He stared at me for a second, and then sighed. "Get dressed, we're doing some last minute studying." Not-dad stepped out of the bathroom, a frown on his face. " _No son of mine is going to be a failure…_ "

Holy shit, was the guy I body-snatched some sort of slob? Oof.

Alright, so things I've learned so far: One, I've been transported into a different world and in a different body (My "name" is David, I should probably stick to that). Two, that angry old man is "My Dad", going from his reaction. And three, I'm in Yu- Wait I'm in Yu-Gi-Oh! Holy shit, wait this means I was going to be playing a children's card game for prestige?

But… I was also gone from my friends and family. Did I just disappear? Did my family think I was kidnapped? Should I try to go home? I deflated, the euphoria of my situation finally leaving me. Life back home… kinda sucked, there was a constant striving for good grades and a good college. Whereas here I could try and gain prestige through something that I truly knew and loved. For now I would be the best duelist that I could. If the situation to go home arose though… I would take it.

I quickly pulled on a shirt and pants, eager to start "training" (Since, come on, I'm literally playing a children's card game in preparation for a large, national scale event). As I was putting my socks on however, I spotted a black-sleeved deck of cards, which was weird. Didn't Not-dad say he would get my deck? I grabbed it and roughly shuffled through the cards. **Bestial Thunder Dragon, Thunder Drag** \- Wait.

This deck was the new Thunder Dragon support that I was using since last month! (Well, last month for _me._ ) I stared at it, and then looked at the calendar on the wall. The date was June 19, 2004

 _June 19, 2004_.

The deck I was holding was made in 2018 though! Holy shit! Oh my god, I'm gonna hit everybody with the power of power creep and it's gonna be great and OTK's- wait a minute I can't use these.

I mean, I shouldn't use these! This children's card game is essentially the end all be all of this world, if people see me bring out Superbolt, the first thing that's going to happen is I'm going to be put on a cross and crucified for allegedly creating counterfeit playing cards.

What a world, getting killed because of children's cards.

"David! Get down here!"

I quickly grabbed my Thunder Dragon deck and stashed it in a deck box. "Coming!"

* * *

We awkwardly stared (well, more like _I_ awkwardly stared, Not-dad was trying to eye-beam lasers through my skull) at each other at the dining table. The silence was deafening. I was getting the silent treatment when all I wanted to do was play a children's card game.

"-I want to Tribute Summon **Summoned Skull**." Holy shit Not-dad, don't just say that. "How many monsters are required for the tribute?"

"Um…" What level was **Summoned Skull** again? " **Summoned Skull** is level 6, so you only need 1 Tribute for it."

Not-dad stared at me, his eyes widened a tiny bit more. "...I summon **Blue-Eyes White Dragon** , my opponent activates **Bottomless Trap Hole** , how do I protect my Dragon?"

"I would uh… Chain **Solemn Judgment**. It negates the effect of Bottomless for the cost of half my Life Points." The questions that were being thrown at me were pretty straightforward. There were honestly tons of ways that one could protect a monster's destruction from **Bottomless Trap Hole** 's effect. I just picked the most straightforward solution.

More silence.

"... So you have been studying. Normally I wouldn't expect you to know the answers to these questions."

Wait these were the questions I should have been studying for? "Uh… Yeah!" I gave a small smile. "Yeah! I uh… Studied pretty hard for this! Big event and all!" I gave my best impression of a laugh. We stared at each other for a bit more. I didn't think he bought it.

"... Anyways, here's your deck." Not-dad handed me a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. "I hope you studied the in's and out's of it." I accepted the stack of cardboard, quickly rifling through the cards. Alright, so there's a 2004 banlist so… Alright I have Pot of Greed sick… **Buster Blader** … **Dark Magician** … **Dark Magician** _ **Girl**_ \- After looking at this deck I came to one conclusion: There was no coherent strategy to this deck: I could barely bring out the multiple tribute summon monsters, and most of these backrow cards were situational.

"Hey… Dad?" I looked up at him, his stern face staring at me. "Can I change my deck?" His face… Darkened? Wrinkled more? Either way he looked _pissed_. "David Chen…" Not-dad exhaled (Also "my" last name is Chen apparently). "This deck is a carbon copy of Yugi Moto's deck when he was dueling in Battle City. We are a family of success, and because we are a family of success, we will only follow successful people."

But Yugi was only successful because he had anime draw skills. Skills that were strong enough to let him draw the right cards at the right time, skills that _I didn't have_. "But Dad, there's no coherency to this deck. Look there's like 5 monsters I can Normal Summon without tribute, and most of these Spells and Traps are incredibly situational. There's no way I can win without a coherent strat-"

"Son, I don't know what you're on about, the deck is only one half of the strategy, the other half is you. You need to be able to draw the cards you need at the right time." Sure you can say that, but I don't have that anime-exclusive skill.

"Now, I may have given you the proper tools to win-" No you haven't. I can't win with this.

"But that does not mean you can neglect your skill as a duelist. This is very important, we are a family of…" I honestly blanked out at this point. Either way, I needed to build a deck in secret.

* * *

Looking through my collection brought me to a conclusion: Some cards are here that shouldn't exist elsewhere, **Elemental HERO Stratos** was released in 2007, not in 2004. Same with more HERO cards ( **Elemental HERO Great Tornado** , and **Elemental HERO Absolute Zero** ). However, I'm absolutely certain that there was no trace of the alternate Extra Deck summoning methods, or cards that exceed a certain time period, probably 2011. I also noticed that I… own a _lot_ of Elemental HERO cards, as in 3 of every card in the archetype. I didn't own a lot of other stuff though. There's also future HERO support like Great Tornado and Absolute Zero.

I resolved to create an Elemental HERO deck, adding as many three-ofs as I could. Add an occasional power card along the way, and eventually created what I called "Absolute Zero Turbo". The deck put a focus on summoning **Elemental HERO Absolute Zero** , a 2.5k beatstick that destroys all of the opponent's monsters when it dies. And after that, I could use **Miracle Fusion** to summon **Elemental HERO Great Tornado** for game. There was also another win condition, but… I didn't expect it to come up very often, it was just there because I had the deck space. Over all, I wasn't very happy with this deck, but given what I have right now, it was the most consistent thing I had, Stratos was at 3 here, so I should've been able to bring out my fragile win condition turn 1.

"Son! It's time to go, get packed!"

Alright, let's rumble. "Coming dad!"

* * *

There was a car ride, but it was incredibly short to me since, you know, I was about to see Yu-Gi-Oh holograms for the first time, and I can actually get money and prestige for playing a children's card game. The Thunder Dragon deck was secure in my backpack, never to be played. I mean, what were the odds that there would be a time to use this deck? I'm in America, GX is set in _Japan_. No way in hell that I'm going to join the canon cast, that's for sure.

The Kaiba Corporation building that was hosting the tournament was huge though, holy crap.

"Alright son," Not-dad walked in front of me. "Remember, I don't expect you to win this competition, I haven't seen you study. However I want you to not lose during the first round."

Wow, thanks Dad. Jesus Christ, I feel bad for David if his dad is always like this.

I found a way to get away from Not-dad and find a place to sit. My hands were violently checking my deck, trying to memorize all of the half assed strategies that I created in my head while making this deck. I stared at three cards that I added last minute, either this would create a poggers topdeck or I'm gonna get something really bricky.

" _Will Duelists David Chen and Jason Jackman please come to Arena 35? I repeat, Duelists David Chen and Jason Jackman come to Arena 35, thank you._ "

I slowly got out of my chair and made my way to the aforementioned area, noticing how there were the original Duel Arenas from Duel Monsters instead of people standing with Duel Disks. Guess Kaiba just wanted to be extra flashy. Like I said before, the building was huge, as in airport huge. It took me a solid 20 minutes to get from where I was to Arena 35.

"David Chen?" A person in a suit and sunglasses walked up to me as I approached the Arena. "Please let me see your deck to see if it obeys the International Duel Monsters Banlist".

Wow, the banlist in this world was _International_? I mean, if the Duel Monster cards here were produced at the same areas at the same time, then I had no problem with it.

"Uh… Yeah sure." I handed the Judge(?) my deck, and he took about 5 seconds shuffling through the cards. He looked at me, and gave me a nod.

"This deck is… Interesting, yet acceptable." He said, "Remember, this will be a duel with standard rules. I expect to see no cheating."

"Got it." I gave my best smile. What were the standard rules though? "So uh…" I stared at the tall area where I was supposed to be, one of the stands were blue, the other red. "Is there a set of stairs that I should walk up or-" A door suddenly opened up right next to me. "-Ah alright."

I went into the chamber that I assumed was an elevator. And as the doors closed behind me, my hands trembled in excitement. Today was the day where I would finally be able to see Yu-Gi-Oh cards come to life! I would finally be able to see the battles that I constantly imagined!

I would finally be able to shout my monster attack names!

I looked at my opponent standing across from me, he looked pretty normal. Wait- what's the meta right now? Oh shit if, this is Goat Format, I'm going to lose so hard.

"Contestants David Chen and Jason Jackman!" A large voice boomed through the speakers, enhancing my already jacked nerves. "This duel will have the standard rules! Four-thousand Life Points! Player on the Red will go first-" I looked at the stand I was on, it was blue. "- And I want to see no cheating is that clear?" Both of us gave him a nod. "Good! Now… Begin when ready!"

I stared at my opponent, "Ah well, 'Good luck have fun' I guess."

"Yeah… Have fun…" Jason just stared at me… Oh god, he's not one of those people is he?

"So uh… How do we start the duel?" Now _that_ got some extra stares. I pulled out my stack of cardboard playing cards "Do I just… Place my deck on the table and maybe-" Oh the table lit up I guess that's how I do it. I stared at the console, there was a small, card-sized screen to the side of me, most likely to show card images and the such. And there was 4000 LP per user… Interesting.

"Hey, are you ready?" Oh shit.

"Oh! Uh… Yeah! Let's go."

" **Duel!"**

 **Jason - 4000LP**

 **David - 4000LP**

"My turn first! I draw!" David flamboyantly pulled a card from his deck **(6 cards in hand)**. "And I'm going to summon **Luster Dragon (1900/1600)** in Attack Mode!" A blue, shimmering dragon burst out from its card hologram and flapped its wings. I could feel the "wind" pass by me everytime its wings moved back and forward. "Next I'll set a face down and end my turn!" a flat hologram appeared behind the dragon.

"Alright… So my turn! I draw." Despite all of my hype around being in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, I couldn't actually stomach the art of fancy card draws **(6 cards in hand)**. But anyways, this hand is what I would have normally expected.

"I'm gonna activate **E-Emergency Call** which allows me to add an Elemental HERO from my deck to my hand! I add **Elemental HERO Stratos.** " I mean, that facedown kind of sucked, this being a time where Battle Traps were actually relevant but… I was sure I could get the OTK? "Next I'll summon my Stratos **(1800/300.)"** A blue man with a jetpack flew onto the field. "Which allows me to add an Elemental HERO from my deck to my hand. I'll add **Elemental HERO Bubbleman**!"

Next I'll activate the effect of **King of the Swamp**! Which allows me to add **Polymerization** from my deck to my ha-"

"- Hey! Stop adding cards and actually do something. Your turn is taking twenty times longer than mine!" Jesus Christ, kid, calm down.

"Alright then! I activate **Polymerization** and fuse my Stratos and Bubbleman to summon **Elemental HERO Absolute Zero (2500/200)!** " I almost got a semi due to the awesomeness that was Absolute Zero, the caped man in sleek white armor slid onto the battlefield in a trail of snowflakes and ice as he approached the Main Monster Zone that I placed his card on, eventually coming to a halt and flinging one of his arms back in a triumphant pose. Although Absolute Zero looked like a badass, I wasted a ton of resources in making him. Meaning that if I got **Mirror Force** 'd, it would be game over.

"Next I'm gonna-" I raised my hand, ' _Let's see if he's gonna take the bait'_ , and made to point at him. His eyes lit up, signaling that his face down was a Battle Trap. Sweet. "- Activate another Spell Card! **Mystical Space Typhoon**! Destroy his face down!"

Jason cursed as a blast of wind destroyed his set **Magical Cylinder**. "So what if you destroyed my Trap Card? You're still not winning this turn! And you just wasted three cards in making that HERO of yours so I'm gonna be in the lead!"

Not for long you aren't, OTK time! "Well get a load of this! I activate **Miracle Fusion**! This allows me to Fusion Summon an Elemental HERO card using monsters on my field or in my graveyard! I fuse my Stratos and Bubbleman _again_! Come forth **Elemental HERO Great Tornado (2800/2200)**!" In a gust of wind, a cloaked man in green armor flew onto the field. "And when Great Tornado is summoned, all of your monsters lose half of their Attack and Defense points!"

"Oh no!"

"Oh _yes_! Great Tornado, hit 'em with your... uh... Great Tornado!" Although my attack names were pretty low-tier, this was the thrill I had been looking for! The feeling of shouting your monsters attack names was beyond gratifying. Jason's Luster Dragon tried its best to stand against the gusts, but ultimately fell to the huge amounts of wind **(Luster Dragon 1900/1600 - 950/800)**. Anyways, this was game.

"Now I enter the Battle Phase! Great Tornado, attack his Dragon!" Great Tornado, to my dismay did not shoot a wind blast, instead opting to fly over and punch Jason's dragon. The force of the punch created shockwaves that carried over to Jason. **(Jason: 4000LP - 2150LP)**

"And this is game! Absolute Zero! Attack Jason directly with your Ice Edge!" The chilly hero slid over to my opponent, constantly gaining speed until he cut Jason with a protrusion coming out of his gauntlet. **(Jason: 2150LP - 0LP)**.

Anyways, that duel went better than I thought. Drawing the 3 of that was **Miracle Fusion** on the first turn was honestly a godsend. Sitting on Great Tornado was fine and all, but any form of spot removal would have turned me to easy pickings.

"That was bullshit!" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at my opponent, and _boy_ was he mad. "I barely get to play the game, and you take 5 whole minutes to do something and win on your first turn!"

"Well, I mean… My deck is pretty much a glass cannon, and I only really just filled it with consistency cards, if you had some set spot removal you probably would have won…? Like it takes me 3 cards to make 1 and-"

"Fuck you!" Jason gave me a _nasty_ glare and exited his stand. I did the same, awkwardly looking at the spectators, who just stared at me.

"Anyways…" The Judge coughed into his fist, no doubt sensing the awkward atmosphere. "David Chen wins! He now proceeds to round 2!"

This duel was pretty good, but I could see its glaring weaknesses, if at any time my monster was hit by removal, I would severely be down in advantage. Like… I was glad that I OTK'd this game, but I really needed to play safer next round.

* * *

The second, third, and fourth rounds just went by in a blur, there was nothing really noticeable except one thing:

 _There was no defined meta here_.

I fought against Dragons, Archfiends, and freaking Mokey Mokey turbo! There was nothing I could side for! And when I asked one of the judges for what the most dominant deck was right now, he just stared at me.

"The deck is a reflection of the duelist, so there wouldn't be a most dominant deck. If you've gotten this far you should know this by now." Bullshit! Industrial Illusions needed to make better cards so that people would buy them! Therefore resulting in a _dominant_ _deck_ and creating a coherent meta. I mean it was the Anime-verse and all but still! The reality that this world came to was ridiculous.

" _Finalists David Chen and Harry Klein please come to Arena 1. I repeat, David Chen and Harry Klein to Arena 1. Thank you."_ The fact that I got to the finals already spoke volumes to me. I got up and made my way to my final destination, oozing with confidence.


	2. Yugioh's Blessing on a Wonderful World

**Thank you to everyone who enjoyed my chapter, this is my first story so I understand the criticisms that you have.**

* * *

The arena that I entered was larger than the rest, if you pictured the standard match arena to be the size of a basketball gymnasium, the finals arena was the size of a football stadium. The area was expansive, hundreds if not thousands of people lined the stands, and there was no roof, giving a clear view of the night sky. But although it would take you about half a minute to walk across one of the zones on the arena, the areas where the duelists would be were the same size as before, with the standard red and blue color scheme. At this point, I already knew the drill, so I walked up to the judge on my side.

"Here," I handed him my stack of cardboard. "I haven't updated the deck before the finals, but you guys gotta do what you gotta do. Am I right?"

The judge gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess you are. Lemme take a look," He went through my cards quickly, and then gave them back to me. "Yeah, your deck is legal. Some of the other judges told me about it too. You seem very... Focused on creating those HERO cards."

This is YuGiOh, consistency is key here. "Yeah, but I would rather focus on one area, than spreading myself too thin. You know?"

"Well, if you've gotten this far, then I have no business in judging you. Remember, I don't want to see any cheating of any kind. That means no stacking your deck or sneaking in cards. Got that?"

I gave him a nod, being in the finals was a surprise to me at first, but looking back on it, all of my opponents decks had been dreadful, and I expected that my fellow finalist's would be no different. I confidently walked into the elevator shaft of the blue area, since the deck 9/10 times wanted to go second for the OTK.

" _Finalists Harry Klein and David Chen!"_ The announcer's voice boomed through the speakers. " _First I want to congratulate you, great job on making it to the finals of the tenth Kaiba Cup USA!"_ The audience decided to take this time to applause, and I basked in the pure glory. _"Let the Heart of the Cards guide you, and may the best man win!"_

I looked at Harry. "Hey man," I said, my words reaching him through the stands microphones. My words reaching out to the people in the stands. "Good luck have fun."

He smiled back at me, "Sure, you too."

I gave a predatory smile, and slammed my deck on the tabletop.

 **"DUEL!"**

 **David - 4000 LP**

 **Harry - 4000 LP**

"I'm going first! I draw!" David yanked a card from his deck, flinging his arm far behind him. "And I'm going to activate the Spell Card **Pot of Greed** and draw two cards from my deck!" He stared at his cards, formulating a plan inside his head.

"Then I'll set a monster in face-down Defense Position, along with another face-down card! Your go!"

Harry's play was very... lackluster. Opting to go for a T-Set instead of the classic offensive plays that I usually saw in this tournament. However, that was what confused me the most. Harry wasn't recklessly placing his cards on the field, he was using as few moves as possible in order to conserve card advantage.

"Alright then, I draw!" It was the usual. Again. "First, I'll activate my **E - Emergency Call** , which allows me to add an Elemental HERO from my deck to my hand. I'll add **Elemental HERO Stratos**. And then I'll summon him **(Elemental HERO Stratos: 1800/300)**!" The blue flyer descended onto my field.

"And when he's summoned, I get to add an Elemental HERO from my deck to my hand _again_. So I'll add **Elemental HERO Bubbleman!"** Now the pieces were in place. It was time for my big move.

"Now I'll activate **Polymerization** , which lets me fuse my Stratos and Bubbleman for **Elemental HERO Absolute Zero** **(2500/2000)!** " The crowd ooh'd and ahh'd when they saw the sleek glider slide onto the field, his cape billowing behind him as he struck his iconic pose. \ "Now my HERO..." I swung my arm forward, "Attack his face down!" My HERO slid forward, rapidly gaining speed as he readied himself to crash into whatever was face down.

"Not so fast!" Harry's words shook me out of my thoughts. "I activate my face down! Go, **Magic Cylinder**!" Two large cylinders appeared out of the ground, and instead of crashing into Harry's face down, Absolute Zero slid into one of the contraptions instead. I stared in horror as my HERO was sent out of the other tube, sliding at me at a force that was intended to be directed at my opponent. The crash wasn't pretty.

 **Harry: 4000LP**

 **David: 1500LP**

"Alright then..." I muttered, staring at my hand again. This would have to do for now... "I'll set a card face down and... end my turn." I should have expected that, this was 2004, the time where battle traps were the norm! Was I getting careless?

"Alright then, my draw!" Harry smirked, his confident aura oozing over to my side of the field. "I'll flip my face down monster into Attack Mode. Come, **Magician of Faith (300/400)!** " A purple haired woman in blue robes came onto the field in a flash of light, holding a staff with a crescent moon on the top.

"And I'll use her effect, which allows me to add a card from my graveyard to my hand! You know what I'm adding back, **Pot of Greed!** " My eyes widened. **Magician of Faith** was a card frequently used in the Goat Format decks of 2004, something that I normally would have expected coming into this universe. If this person was playing what I thought he was...

"Next, I'll activate it, allowing me to draw 2 new cards from the top of my deck!" The card advantage he had right now was ridiculous, compared to the 4 cards in my hand (Which was a pretty decent hand size, considering that I Fusion Summoned), David had double the amount, giving him access to nearly every play he would want at this time.

"Now, let's say goodbye to that HERO of yours, I activate the Spell Card **, Lightning Vortex!** For the cost of discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy all face up monsters on your side of the field!" I flung a arm in front of me trying to protect myself against the volley of lightning bolts thrown near my face. And in the background of all the thunder, I could see the figure of a man, and screeches of agony. When the sounds of booms subsided, my field was no more, save for the one face down that I held.

I squinted, "Don't forget, when Absolute Zero is destroyed, all of your monsters are destroyed as well!" The ground shook, and out came multiple spikes of ice that impaled Harry's lone **Magician of Faith**. The screams of the holograms were pretty lifelike, creating a tinge of sadness inside of me, but thankfully he couldn't summon a bigger mon-

"Doesn't matter! I'm activating the Spell Card, **Foolish Burial**! This allows me to send a monster from my deck to the graveyard, I'll send the **Vampire Lord**." Oh shit, was he going to summon what I think he was?

"The stage is set, and I'm summoning my own monster! The summoning requirement is banishing one LIGHT and one DARK monster from my graveyard!" Harry flung his arm forward.

 _"His body is of Light and Darkness._

 _Hailing from the Chaos, he righteously strikes down his foes!_

 _Come forth:_ **Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!** "

I gaped as a man donning blue and gold armor slowly walked onto the battlefield, his shield calmly held by his side. If the crowd ooh'd and ahh'd at my Absolute Zero, they were loudly cheering and screaming at the sight of the evolved form of one of Yugi Moto's Boss Monsters. This was the **Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning**. A ferocious boss monster that had the ability to banish any monster on the field, and if it didn't and opted for an attack, it could attack again if it destroyed a monster by battle, resulting in less monsters and less life points. Black Luster Soldier was a menace on the field during the days of Goat Format, and today it would spell my doom.

"This is game! Black Luster Soldier, attack his life points directly with Envoy Slash!" In the blink of an eye, the soldier leaped towards me, his sword held at his side. I stared in horror as his sword descended, then I remembered I had a face down.

"It _would_ be game, but I have a face down card! **Negate Attack**! This negates your attack and ends the Battle Phase!" A vortex of red and blue pushed back the advancing warrior. I was safe for now.

"Alright then..." Harry stared at me. "I'll end my turn. Not like you can do anything" This guy's BM was pissing me off, but he was right: There truly was nothing that I could do.

Even though I stopped the first swing of BLS's sword, I wasn't able to do it again. If only I didn't attack directly into Harry's **Magic Cylinder**... Then I would have been able to at least held on for another turn!

"I..." My breath was shakier than normal, my legs were like jelly. I solemnly pulled the top card of my deck. I didn't have anything in my deck that could out the Black Luster Soldier, and the only cards of value that were in my hand were **King of the Swamp** , which could let me search a **Polymerization** , and **Miracle Fusion**. Both of the cards were equally useless. I had no use for another **Polymerization** , and even if I were to summon another Absolute Zero with **Miracle Fusion** and crash into Harry's monster. I would be wide open, and anything would kill me at that point. "I... Draw." My hand was over my deck, ready to forfeit the duel.

Until I saw the card that I drew.

I grinned, "I'm going to summon the **King of the Swamp 500/1100!"** A slimy, human looking figure managed to pull itself out of the ground, and the groans of disgust from the audience made me smile a bit more. "Now I'm going to activate my Spell Card, **Miracle Fusion!** This allows me to Fusion Summon a HERO monster by banishing cards from my field or graveyard! And because my Swamp King can act as any specific fusion material, I'm going to fuse it and Bubbleman to summon the **Elemental HERO Mariner (1400/1100)!** " A diver with wild hair and anchors for gauntlets strode onto the field.

"Next I'm going to set a card face down, and because of that, Mariner can attack you directly!"

"What is _that_ going to do?" Harry squinted at me. "Sure you can attack my life points directly, but I'll just destroy it with my Soldier for game!"

"Oh you're in for a surprise buddy." Mariner crouched down in a swimmer's pose, and dived towards David, stabbing him in the chest. His triumphant smile stayed, and I was going to wipe it off his face.

 **Harry: 2600LP**

 **David: 1500LP**

This was game. "Entering Main Phase 2! I'll flip my face down card. **Skydive Scorcher!** " Like magic, a city of shining skyscrapers surrounded us. "When this is activated, I target an Elemental HERO I control, and destroy all of your monsters with attack higher than my targeted monster!"

David's eyes widened "What!?"

"You heard me! Mariner, Skyscraper Shoot!" Standing on the tallest skyscraper, Mariner dove down in a giant flaming arrow, piercing through the Black Luster Soldier in a huge explosion.

"Not only that, but you take damage equal to the highest original attack of your monsters!"

"But the only monster destroyed was my soldier! That means…!"

"Yep! You take 3000 points of damage!" Out of the explosion, Mariner appeared and lunged for Harry, who was now much more terrified. "This is game!" Mariner pierced through Harry's chest, and I had won.

 **Harry: 0LP**

 **David: 1500LP**

The crowd was silent for a while, until one person decided to clap, and then more people joined them, until the whole stadium was alight with applause.

Sure, the feeling of victory was well… Victorious, but that deck wasn't something that I was expecting! There wasn't supposed to be a deck like GOAT, something that was created for optimal efficiency, in this universe. And while people cheered for my "Draw Skill", I only really won because I got a cheap topdeck.

After we landed back onto the floor, I walked up to Harry. "Good game," I said, offering him a hand.

He took it, "Good game." He made his way out to the judges, but there was just one thing that I needed to know.

"Hey wait!" I shouted, and Harry turned around to look at me. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you make your deck? It was… Much stronger than a regular contestant's."

"Oh, this?" He glanced at the deck box at his hip. "Not a lot of people understand the value of card advantage, and Black Luster Soldier is just an insane boss monster. You would learn all of this stuff if you go to Duel Academy America like I do." The fact that there was a Duel Academy shocked me, but I quickly remembered that this was YuGiOh.

I blinked, "They teach stuff like card advantage in Duel Academy?" This was anime-land, card advantage was supposed to be non-existent! I guessed that this world really was way more than it seemed. "Wow, duel academy students must be better than I thought."

"Oh yeah," Harry smiled. "A lot of people here aren't good enough to actually attend a Duel Academy. They just don't understand the basics of card economy. But it's not like every student plays a deck like mine," He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "It's just that I optimized my strategy."

From what Harry told me, Duel Academy students were legitimately good players. That meant it wasn't possible for me to completely destroy everyone in this world for the fame and prestige that I wanted. Although I was a little off-put by that, the fact that duelists here were actually strong excited me.

I made my way towards my not-dad, and the look on his face had far less wrinkles.

"David, I wasn't happy that you changed the deck at the last minute." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "However, You exceeded all of my expectations. Good job."

I suddenly found myself flat footed. I should've felt happy that I finally got some recognition from my parents. But... This person wasn't my dad, I had no connection to him. Here I was, stealing the body of a kid who I didn't even know, doing something that he could have fully done on his own, and then taking the credit for it. It made me feel... Scummy. Who was I to take this person's recognition?

"Uh... Thanks, Dad." I gave him my best smile. A part of me died inside. "Glad to make you proud."

"Let's go home. You can pick the movie tonight." I blinked, we... Had movie nights? That was strange, normally I would have thought that a family this strict would just go straight to sleep. We made our way out of the stadium, reaching the door and on our way to the car.

"Excuse me!" I didn't immediately turn around, I was still tired after all. However I did jump a tiny bit. "Excuse me! David Chen!" When I turned my head, I faced a judge, his face was caked in sweat. "Oh thank god, I thought you left the venue. Please, don't leave yet."

"Uh... Why?" I stared at the judge. "I'm tired and supposed to be at home, watching a movie."

"I'm sorry, I understand that this is a inconvenience to you, but somebody important wants to see you. Please follow me."

I looked at him, and then I looked at my not-dad. "Go ahead." He nodded. "If somebody wants to see you then there's no problem with it. Just call me when you're done, alright?"

"Alright Dad, I'll see you later." I made my way towards the judge, and he started to lead me down a hallway. "So..." I started. "Who wants to see me? Kaiba?"

The judge looked at me like I was insane. "Unfortunately, Mister Kaiba was not here to witness this event. However, the Central Japanese Duel Academy came here on a school trip, and because of your performance a professor wanted to meet with you." I blinked, the... canon duel academy was stopping by? And they wanted a student to duel me? Huh.

We made our way back to a hallway where a man with long blond hair was standing. He wore his hair in a ponytail, used purple lipstick, and had an incredibly long collar. There was no doubt, I was facing GX's Doctor Crowler.

The judge extended his hand to Crowler. "Hello Professor Medici-" Wait, Medici? We were using the sub names? I guess Jaden Yuki didn't sound very Japanese. "I hope you enjoyed the finals."

The Doctor took it. His accent was very Italian. "Oh yes, oh yes! It was very good. A HERO duelist winning however…" Crowle- Medici appeared to have a dramatic flashback. "It was interesting, that is for certain." He turned to look at me. "I trust that this is the champion?"

"Uh… Uh yeah!" Medici's eyes narrowed. "-I mean _yes_! Yes. I'm David Chen. Nice to meet you." I held my hand out to him.

He took it. "Nice to meet you too, I am Cronos de Medici, head professor of Central Duel Academy. I trust you know why you are here?"

"Not… Really. Sorry."

"I want you to duel one of my students." _That_ got my attention. "Your performance as a HERO player interested me. Taking a look at your finals match, you focus entirely on summoning either Absolute Zero or Great Tornado, and then killing your opponent in one single turn. Am I correct?"

I blinked, Medici understood my entire deck, all from witnessing one duel? My combo didn't even go off that round!

I exhaled. "Yeah, that's pretty much the entire idea of my deck, even though it's really easy to summon those cards with my build, any sort of removal will just kill it. I'm lucky that I decided to put in my alternate win condition."

"Truly the Heart of the Cards, is it not?"

I laughed a tiny bit. "Yes sir, I guess so."

There was an awkward silence for a while, with the both of us unable to find a new conversation topic. I coughed a bit. "So anyways… Could I see who I'm dueling?"

"Of course, of course… This way." Medici started walking, I followed. "Signor David, I wonder… Out of all decks, why do you play HERO's? You don't strike me as the… Type of person who would enjoy those cards."

"I mean, it's not about if you enjoy the deck or not, it's about picking the most optimal strategy at the moment."

"I see… The bond between you and the cards do not matter to you?"

Did it? Obviously I had a favorite deck, I just wasn't playing it at the moment. "It… Sort of does? It's hard for me to explain it."

There was a bit more silence, Medici coming to the conclusion that I wouldn't be speaking anymore on the topic. "I… See."

We eventually came to the main arena, and I once again took in the sights of the massive area. However, the lack of people enhanced the silence and the darkness of the night sky. "So uh… Who am I dueling?"

Medici hummed, "To be honest, I haven't completely chosen yet. However one student greatly expressed his desire to face you in a duel... I think you'll be dueling... Ryo Marufuji."

Ryo Marufuji? But wasn't that-

Medici said something in another language (Japanese, I eventually realized), and the person who came out to face me shook me to the bone. His sharp eyes bored into my soul, with his dark, navy blue hair covering the sides of his face. He wasn't wearing a patented white and blue outfit, but I knew who I was facing.

 _Zane Truesdale._

He said something in Japanese, I didn't understand him.

Medici realized my lack of language. "He says that it is nice to meet you."


End file.
